HIT IT LIKE A GIRL!

Terry Koehler has been in the golf industry for over 30 years and currently spends his days as the President of EIDOLON Golf, a small premium wedge company in Victoria, Texas. He's been blogging for over 3 years and has written hundreds of articles ranging from golf tips to equipment issues. His blog will appear on ClubSG twice per week. You can reach Terry to have your golf questions answered at askme@thewedgeguy.com.

Last weekend our club hosted a women's collegiate event and we had 14 teams of talented young ladies tee it up. On Saturday, we started the festivities with a College/Am Tournament, pairing two amateurs with two collegians. Some teams, including mine, had a third collegian along, as this was also their practice round. My partner and I were fortunate to play with three very nice and very impressive young ladies from the University of Kansas.

It was obvious from the very first hole that these ladies can really play. And they hit it plenty long. It is really a test of your ego and manhood to have 18-20 year old girls hit it past you off the tee and play into the green with the same iron you have in your hands. What it proves is that sound fundamentals, good timing in the golf swing and dead center impact combine to deliver a lot more power to the golf ball than brute strength alone.

I want to very publicly thank Meghan Potee, Meghna Bal and Fong Boonraksasat for an enjoyable afternoon of golf, and for giving me my 2011 inspiration as I work on my game hard for the first time in a number of years:

I want to hit it like a girl!

(At least like you three girls.)

All three of these young ladies had impeccable timing and rhythm to their golf swings. Their fundamentals were extremely sound and their release through impact was impeccable. The result is the most efficient delivery of the clubhead to the ball that is possible, and therefore they got maximum leverage and utility from their body strength.

I’m not talking about big strong girls here, either. Meghan is a tall, wispy young lady from Indiana who has a long flowing swing, reminiscent to me of Beth Daniels in her prime. Both Fong and Meghna – who came to Kansas from Thailand and India, respectively – are shorter, and have more compact swings that work beautifully. Fhong has the strongest body core and was the longest of the three on most holes; her swing was a model of efficient power. Meghna is shorter but takes a controlled approach to dicing up the golf course; she finished third individually in the event, leading her team to a 2nd place finish. All three were very straight and played with emotional control that was advanced for their age in my opinion. I will watch the University of Kansas this year to see how these young ladies mature and improve.

As I’ve visited with other members of the club this week, all had similar praise for the young ladies they played with on Saturday. It was a pleasure for all of us, but the lesson I took away is that my practice needs to focus on sound fundamentals, a solid release through impact, impeccable rhythm and timing and dead solid impact.

For some time now, I’ve thought the LPGA presented a better show for most of us amateurs, and these young ladies just confirmed that. Maybe it’s just me, but watching the young guns on the PGA Tour bomb drives 300+, hit 8-irons from 165 or more and just attack golf courses isn’t that enjoyable. I like the surgical approach to golf, hitting great golf shots and dissecting each hole to yield pars and birdies. The ladies do that better than anyone, in my opinion. And they do it with a strong reliance on great swings with great fundamentals.

Few amateurs will ever play like the guys on the PGA Tour, but if we can emulate what the ladies have to teach us, all of us would hit better golf shots and drop our handicaps.

At least that's my $0.02 worth!!!!

* The Wedge Guy's views and opinions are his own do not necessarily reflect those of SkyGolf.

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scottishguyiniowa says:I went to a local area high school meet last year at my local course and watched some of the 15-16 year old fly my usual driving spots off the tee. Now I consider myself at the high end of the average hitters in the club but these kids were carrying the ball past my 250 -280 yard drives. YIKES I felt old that day!